Behrampore, April 10: Ariane Biswas, the two-year-old son of suspected ISI agents, was handed over to his maternal grandparents today after spending six months in jail with his mother on a decree passed an additional district judge here.

Judge Mir Dara Shoka accepted the plea filed by a lawyer on behalf of the boy’s father Ziauddin Biswas and mother, Ismatara, that the child be handed over to his grandmother, Hossainara Biswas. He will have to be brought to court for every hearing, he said.

Police had arrested the couple and two others from Durlabherpara village in Jalangi on November 17 on charges of working closely with the ISI. Ever since, little Ariane has been languishing in the women’s wing of the Behrampore jail.

“According to the police, the parents of the boy are offenders, but the baby has been suffering and is in poor health as his mother has become mentally unstable in jail,” a sobbing Hossainara said at the district court.

Ziauddin, who was brought to court today to face the charges drawn up by the police, said he had earlier requested that his son be handed over to his mother-in-law. “But still my son had to suffer nearly three months with his mentally-unstable mother,” Ziauddin said.

“It had become unsafe to keep the child with his mother. After our pleas, the court had asked for a report on Ismatara’s condition. It was after that that the court handed over custody of the child to his grandmother, only after keeping a guarantor who would ensure that the child was not taken out of the district,” said Sirajul Islam, Ziauddin’s lawyer. The child will be reunited with his mother every time she is brought to court.